Scoping review
Short definition
A scoping review is a systematic literature review that maps what has already been studied on a topic, what kinds of evidence exist and where the gaps are, without aiming to answer whether an intervention works.
In plain language
It is useful when a topic is new or scattered, such as virtual reality in palliative care: rather than measuring an effect, it describes which studies exist, in which populations, which outcomes they measured and what remains to be researched. It follows an explicit method but does not usually appraise the quality of each study or carry out a meta-analysis. The most widely used reporting guideline is the PRISMA-ScR extension.